George m



(No Model.) S S. I G. M. HOPKINS.

TURBINE.

No. 521,713. Patented June 19, 1894.

"IRWIN!!!-llllllllllllllllI!llllllllllIlIIIlIllllll!lllllllllllllllllllllw d l'-l F ITED STATES PAT N OFFICE?" GEORGE MQHOPKINS, on NEW YORK, N. 'Y.

," ruReINE.

SPECIFICATION forming aw Letters Patent No, 521,713, datedd'une 19, 1894. Y

" ijAp plication filed December 14:, I393. $erial No. 493.624:- (No model.) i

'.T0 all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORG M. HOPKINS, of

v Ne'w York city, in the county and State of New York, have in vented .a new and Improved Turbine, of which thefollowing is'a specifica;

l ftiou, reference being had tothe annexed drawlngs, formlng'a part'thereof, in which'*.

' turbine; Fig.2 is aface view of'onehalf of the turbine wheel. Fig. 3is a diametrical section Qfthewheel. Rig. 4 i's-acen tral longitudinal section of the nozzle. ,Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 6 isa rear elevation ,ofgthe nozzle; and'Fig. 7 is'a longitudinal section of a double nozzle for a reversing turbine. Similar letters of rferenceindicate corre- {sponding parts in all the views. I

; The objectof-rnyv invention is toconstruct ..o compressed air as the propelling forcewhich 'is f or med with a smooth, uninterrupted exterior surface whichwill offer a minimum of re- I sistance to the air, and in which the nozzle through which the propelling medium is pelling wings.

tai-ning wings for receiving the impact of the go propelling medium, and having a central free space for the ejector nozzle. o

It also consists in a'no'zzle constructedgto pro ect steam in a thin wide stream against .-the wings, and arranged to draw the air from 3 5 behind the nozzle by induction and project it in a stream impinging on the jet of steam.

The invention also further consists in a double nozzle arranged to discharge the propelling medium in either direction for the purpose of 'reversing'the turbine.

It alse' further consists in a'turbine formed of aluminum, for thepurpose of reducing the .lweight and facilitating the reversal of the turlne. a

In describing my invention I shall refer to it as a steam turbine, although I do not limit myself to the use of steam as amotive agent. I shall also describe the turbineas having an annular space of circular cross section, for

containing the steam nozzle, but I do not confine myself to this particular form.

Upon the shaft A, journaled in the frame Figure 1 is a front elevation of-myimpr'oved a turbine-to be used with steam, water or ejected will be. partly surrounded by the pro- My invention consists in a wheel having a I smooth exterior and'an annular chamber con-' 3: is mounted the turbine wheel G which is formedof two similar halves ac, each prothe shaft by means of the nut e which clamps .thewheelagainst the collar f form ed on or at- The semi-elliptical halt tached to the shaft. rims d, when placed together, form a practij with respect to each other and fastened upon cally elliptical'rim, in the center of which is vformedan annular space gof circular cross sec-- tion, and on opposite sides'of the said annular space 9', the ri'mis cut away by meansof a suitable millingcutter, leaving the inwardlyprojecting wings h which extend from a point near the periphery of the wheel 'to a point within the annular space g.

In cutting awaythe interior of the rimto form the wings h,'intermediate wings 72' are formed, which are shorter than. the wings h and project inwardly from the outer portion of the Wheel. This arrangement will be followed in the construction of very small tur-' bines, but in larger turbines where the wings h are more nearly parallel, the intermediate wings 71 may be omitted.

' 'From the periphery of the -turbine wheel down to the annular space 9 is formed a slot j for receiving the plate D, which supports the nozzle E and the pipe is. The plate D is rigidly supported in such relation to the Wheel O, as to allow the wheel to revolve freely without coming into contact with the plate. The nozzle E'is made annular, with the steam space [having an annular discharge opening m, the steam spacel communicating with the pipe 10. Within the annular steam space I is a longitudinal opening n, partly closed by a cone 0, leaving an annular space p, the cone being held in its position by distance pieces q, and retained by a bolt 1" which passes through a cross bar 8 extending across the rearend of the nozzle E.

Although I have fully shownbut a single nozzle in the drawings, in practice the turbine will have two or more nozzles, as indicated by dotted lines; and furthermore, where it is desirable to reverse the turbine, the nozzle is made double, as shown in'Fig. 7, having two supply pipes k, [6, two annular'steam spaces,

Z Z, two annular discharge openings m m and two annular spaces 19 p. The annular spaces m m and p 13 open in opposite directions. Steam admitted to the nozzle E through the pipe it, enters the annular space Z, and is distributed, and discharged through the annular opening m, the discharge opening being of such character as to give to the annular jet of steam a divergent form, causing it to strike the wings h h. In issuing fromthe annular opening m, the steam by induction draws air through the annular space 11, thus withdrawing the air from behind the nozzle and projecting it against the annular stream of steam. This arrangement to a great extent removes the back pressure of air behind the nozzle, and itsv projection in a stream more divergent than that of the steam causes it to act to some extent as an abutment for the steam, forholding it against the wings h h.

When the turbine is to be made reversible, the double nozzle shown in Fig. 7 is used and steam is admitted to one or the other of the parts of the nozzle according to the direction in which the wheel is to revolve. To facilitate the reversal of the turbine,the wheel of a reversible turbine is made of aluminum, thus reducing the momentum of the wheel, so that it may be more readily stopped, and started in the opposite direction. Where the turbine is not intended to be reversible, it is preferably made of bronze or some unoxidizable material having sufiicient strength.

It will be seen that my improved turbine offers no roughness or projections on the exterior to act upon the air and thus cause re sistance. The wheel having wings which are practically radial, and being provided with a peripheral groove for the discharge of the contents of the hollow rim, when it revolves at a high velocitya partial vacuum is formed by centrifugal force, which adds to the efficiency of the turbine by removing air resistance. Centrifugal force also throws out every particle of water resulting from the condensation of steam.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A turbine wheel, having a smooth uninterrupted exterior and provided with an ann ular space with its sides surrounded by wings except at its point of support having at the sides thereof wings for receiving the impact of the propelling medium, and anozzle held wholly within the annular space and constructed to project a thin wide jet of steam against the wings, as specified.

2. The combination, with a wheel having a hollow rim with an annular space, and wings projecting into the annular space and furnished with a groove extending from the periphery of the wheel to the annular space, of

an annular nozzle supported within the annular space and provided with two concentric annular apertures, one for pro ecting steam against the wings and the other for the passage of air, from the rear to the front of the nozzle as herein specified.

3. A turbine wheel formed of two like halves both placed on the shaft and oppositely arranged with respect to each other each half being separately supported by the shaft, the division line between the halves being in the plane of rotation of the wheel, the said halves being mounted rigidly on a shaft, in contact with each other, the complete wheel having a hollow rim with inwardly-projecting wings,

substantially as specified.

4. In a turbine,a wheel havinga hollow rim provided with inwardly-projecting wings, and having a groove extending from the periphery of the Wheel inwardly, the groove being enlarged within the rim of the wheel, forminga passage for the nozzle, a nozzle placed In the said passage and constructed to direct a thin stream of steam against the wings, and furnished with an opening from front to rear for the passage of any fiuid or liquid from the rear of the nozzle to the front thereof, as specified.

5. A turbine, formed of a wheel having a hollow rim with inwardly-projecting wings,

and provided with openings through the wings which form an annular passage through the hollow wheel rim and wings contained thereby, the wheel having a peripheral groove extending to and communicating with the annular passage, and a nozzle supported within theannular passage of the wheel rim and adapted to direct a jet of steam against the inwardly projecting wings, substantially as specified.

6. In asteam turbine, the combination with a wheel having a hollow rim with inwardlyprojecting wings, of an ejector nozzle placed within the hollow rim and having two concentric annular openings, the outer one being for the discharge of steam under pressure and the inner one being for removing air, steam or water from the rear of the nozzle on the ejector principle, substantially as specified.

7. The combination, with a turbine wheel having a hollow rim containing inwardly projecting wings and provided with an annular passage parallel with the plane of rotation,

of an annular nozzle supported within the annular passage and arranged to discharge a thin stream of steam in a direction tangential to the path of the inner edges of the wings, substantially as specified.

GEORGE M. HOPKINS.

Witnesses:

C. SEDGWIOK, ALBERT A. HOPKINS.

IIO

' It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 521,713, granted J une, '19, 1894, upon the application of George M. Hopkins, of New York, N. Y., for an improvementin V '7 Turbines, an error'aippears in the printed specification requiring correction as folion/s: Page 2, lines 51-52, the clause with its sides surrounded' by Wings except at 1 its point of support, should be strickenout and inserted after the word spacefline V as now numbered, same page; and that the Letters Patent should be read with, this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the cesein the Patent Signed, countersigned, and sealed this 10th day of July, A. D. 1894. 1

[ 5 JNO. M. REYNOLDS,

v Assistant Secretary of the Interior. Gountersigned: L

JOHN S. SEYMOUR,

Commissioner of Patents.

Correction in LettersPatent N0."'52l,7l3. 

